West's economic de-risking a 'false proposition': Chinese PM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Jun 2023 08:20

The Chinese Premier confirms that China is on course to achieve its five percent target for economic growth in 2023 set by Beijing earlier this year.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang gives a speech during this week's meeting of the World Economic Forum in the port city of Tianjin, China, on June 27, 2023 (AFP)

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang considered on Tuesday that the Western countries' decision to "de-risk" their economies was a "false proposition", slamming the United States and European Union policy aimed at reducing their reliance on China.

"In the West, some people are hyping up what is called 'cutting reliance and de-risking'," Li told delegates from New Zealand, Mongolia, Vietnam, Barbados, and Saudi Arabia at the opening of a World Economic Forum meeting in northern China.

"These two concepts... are a false proposition, because the development of economic globalization is such that the world economy has become a common entity in which you and I are both intermingled," the Chinese Premier pointed out in a speech calling for deepening economic globalization and cooperation.

"The economies of many countries are blended with each other, rely on each other, make accomplishments because of one another, and develop together," he indicated.

"This is actually a good thing, not a bad thing."

This week's meeting of the World Economic Forum in the port city of Tianjin -- known colloquially as the "Summer Davos" -- is the first of its kind after a three-year hiatus caused by the Covid pandemic. It will last until Thursday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in January described the EU's approach to China as "de-risking rather than decoupling" since the bloc still sought to work and trade with Beijing.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing last week claimed that the United States was not seeking "economic containment" of China.

"But at the same time," he said, "it's not in our interest to provide technology to China that could be used against us."

In a related context, Li confirmed that China is on course to achieve its five percent target for economic growth in 2023 set by Beijing earlier this year.

"For the whole year, we are expected to achieve the target of about five percent economic growth set at the beginning of this year," he said.

"We are fully confident and capable of pushing ahead the steady and long-term development of China's economy on the track of high-quality development in the relative long term."